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 Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:57 pm
“Alright, alright,” Lithian said, chuckling as he moved. His ribbon of water snaked through the air in a fluid motion, drawing back and then snapping towards his daughter. Tanarah, in turn, scuttled back, slashing up and skipping sidelong. “Just be as aware of your own balance and surroundings as you are of your target—”
“But the target’s most important.” Tanarah dove, slashing, and Lithian recoiled, flicking the ‘snake’ away and arching his eyebrows.
“What good is knowing where your target is, if you’ve fallen to the ground or hurt yourself, or left open a point at which someone can—” Lithian flicked, slapping the water stream out just enough to douse Tanarah’s opposite, unguarded side, “—take advantage of your assumptions and knock you off balance?”
Tana squinted, huffing and opening her mouth to retort. But then, an approaching figure over the sand stopped whatever might have come. One moment there, the next: gone, sinking into the earth. Tanarah’s lips stretched with glee as the sand rippled, and then, seconds later, a familiar body took shape beneath her, toting her small form up, onto her mother’s shoulders.
“Miss Takhiiiiiii,” she greeted, fingers immediately moving to grip the woman’s horns to steady herself. “You made it.”
“So I did, kiddo,” Takhi agreed. “Is your sister about?”
“She is,” Tana said. “Daddy was teaching me to fight river dragons!”
“Was he now?” Out of Tanarah’s line of sight, Takhi’s gaze moved to Lithian, who dipped his head in greeting, the corner of his lip edging up. “I am sure he’d be among the best at that.”
“Mmmhmm, and he’d make the water come around like—sshhhhhhwwwwwsshh! And attack me! And—” Tanarah proceeded to provide a verbal recap of the training session, complete, as always, with ample sound effects and as much motion as she could manage from atop Takhi’s shoulders.
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:24 pm
Tala sat out on the upper balcony, fully engrossed in another book — a common sight when it came to her. This time it was a fairytale of sorts, about a prince and princess. Tala wrinkled her nose each time she read about a princess needing rescued. Why did there never seem to be strong, independent princesses. The noises of Tana and daddy’s training session echoed in the background and became a kind of white noise for Tala as she flipped the pages of her book. When they stopped, however, she blinked and looked up. Frowning, she placed her book to the side and made her way over to the railing.
Leaning over the railings, grip tight, gave her the perfect view. And just in time to see their mother — Takhi, she reminded herself — pop up out of the sand and grab hold of Tana. She pursed her lips, thinking back to what the school girls had said about her family and then about what Tana and her had talked about that same night. Takhi was still their mother, in the sense that she gave birth to them. She was unable to be a parent — not like daddy and papa at least.
Tala pushed away from the railing and turned, jumping as her papa came into view. The smile he gave her made one pop up onto her face as well. “Sorry I scared you. Your mother’s here for a visit. Seems you figured that out already, hm?”
Tala eyed him for a moment before finally deciding to speak. “She’s not my mother.”
“Tala…” Cas’ brown pinched together as he moved over to his daughter. “She…”
“She’s Takhi. She’s a...friend.” It was the best way Tala knew how to explain it at this point in her life. She couldn’t look at Takhi as a mother, not yet. Not until...well, Tala wasn’t sure what would cause her to change her mindset. She just knew she didn’t want to call the woman mother just yet.
Cas sighed and nodded. “Let’s go, hm? I’m sure she’ll want to spend time with the both of you. That is...if you want to?”
Tala frowned, glancing back towards the railing and the spot she’d just been standing in moments before. Did she want to spend time with her? Tala wasn’t sure but knew the only way to figure that out was to go down and at least say hi. Besides, it wouldn’t be too bad if they did go somewhere. At least her sister would be there.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:23 pm
When her sister appeared, Tanarah whooped, wriggling until Takhi stooped, allowing her to hop down. “You done enough with your book for now?” Tana asked, then glanced back to Takhi. “Are we gonna practice, or somethin’ else?”
“It sounded like you’ve been worn down enough, mm?” Takhi said. “Maybe leave your blades behind this time. There are some fire dancers in town. I thought we could spend a slice of the evening on that. Then perhaps a touch of tumbling, if you still had energy in you.”
Tanarah flashed white teeth, as though to demonstrate that she always had energy, but aloud, she said, “And candy from the market? There’s so much…”
“If your fathers are ready for you t’ have that much more energy, I suppose we could spare a coin or two on that.” Takhi’s gaze flit to Talanah. “What do you think, little miss?”
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:31 pm
Talanah smiled at her sister. “For now,” she said in response to Tana’s question. When her sister moved on, asking about what Takhi had planned for them, Tala’s smile faded and her gaze flicked to the woman. She worried her lip as the two of them went back and forth. And when Takhi’s gaze and question fell to her, she flushed slightly. She glanced up to her papa and he gave a slight nod forward with a small wink. Swallowing, Tala nodded. “Ok…”
Cas glanced up to Takhi and gave her a small smile. “Candy is fine with me, as long as Lith is alright with it. Just...not too much, hm?” He moved forward, squatting down in front of his daughters and tugged them into a hug. “You two behave for Takhi, ok?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:47 am
“Always,” Tanarah said, with all her usual vigor, and so they went, alongside Takhi and off, into the town proper.
Though the woman visited often enough to drop in on them, said events usually entailed at-home interaction, including chatter, beach time, swimming, or — as of late — practice sessions, wherein Takhi worked with them through their physical routines, or discussed their schooling. A trip into town, thus, was a treat, or Tanarah certainly viewed it as such, and her attention moved everywhere as they went along, darting from shop stall to shop stall, one brightly colored canvas overhang to the next and along from piles of fresh, brightly colored fruit to arrangements of ornaments, trinkets, toys, scrolls, or—
“Candies!” Tanarah bounced onto her toes with the outburst, eyes wide. “I w—”
But, halfway through that remark, her words stalled, gaze catching instead on a small shape in the next alley, so still that noticing the child at all almost surprised her. Before she could discern how or why specifically she picked that particular individual, the child moved, unbeknownst — clearly — to the vendor of what looked to be small cakes as their hand snapped out, quick as a blink, and gathered three too them before darting back out of sight. Tanarah lost track of how long she must have stared at the empty space left in their wake, and was pulled back into the moment only by miss Takhi’s tug at her shoulder sleeve.
“Come, girl, what is it? Did you want to pick a sweet or not?”
Tana blinked upwards, staring blankly for several moments before glancing back to the space. Finally, after several terse, confused pulls at her ear, Tanarah nodded. “Yes, I…want to.” When she noticed the arch of Takhi’s eyebrows and suspicious curiosity in her stare, Tana’s cheeks heated to a ripe flush, as though she had been the one caught stealing. “I do,” she repeated. “I do, I do—please?”
And so, with a grunt and a lingering look that suggested she had not fully abandoned any potential line of inquiry related to Tana’s odd behavior, Takhi nodded, and guided them over, inviting them each to pick one candy of their choice.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:42 pm
Talanah blinked as her sister trailed off and was distracted by candy. She followed her gaze but saw nothing before Takhi was nudging her and her focus was back on the sweets in front of her. It took her a moment before she finally decided on something — a chocolate treat with a caramel sauce inside of it. It had a hint of saltyness to it that made Tala want even more of the sweet treat. When Tana finally chose her treat and they were on their way again, Tala was determined to find out what exactly Tana had see to distract her so much.
Reaching out, she tugged at Tana’s arm as she hung back behind Takhi. Leaning in close she whispered, “What on earth were you looking at?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:24 pm
Tanarah took her time piecing over the selection, her attention happily shifting back to focus on the wide assortment of delectables. Eventually, she plucked up a bright, yellow sour candy, wrapped in colored paper. After Takhi paid and they moved along on their way, Tana’s thoughts were so engrossed in the flavors of her treat and surrounding street life, that for several moments after her sister tugged her back, she simply blinked, staring.
“Hmm—? Mmm, oh! Ah…” Gaze flitting to Takhi, she shrugged. “I’ll tell you later. When we get home.”
Just as well, she supposed, since shortly after the statement left her mouth, the purpose of their expedition out came into view: an upraised platform, likely set up on the spot by the performers, since she didn’t remember it being there, decorated in festive fashion and streamed with decoration. Atop it and from it came music — lilting and alive with energy that prickled the skin — and performers. They must have come just between two events, since for the moment, nothing was directly underway. Instead, a spokesperson for the group stood at the front end of the platform, an amplifying spell on their voice clearly in place as they detailed the events to come.
Tanarah felt herself wriggle, a strange ripple of excitement budding as the next performance set up—as though she could feel the untapped magic latent in the performers and ready to be unleashed. She pushed up onto the balls of her feet, in efforts to see better.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 4:53 pm
Tala frowned when her sister wouldn’t elaborate any further. She glanced back to Takhi and huffed out. She supposed if her sister thought it was best to wait, then that’s all she could do. She finished off her treat just as they came up on a small crowd and what looked to be a makeshift stage. Tala glanced eagerly around, eyes taking in everything that she could all while trying to stay as close to her sister as possible. Her eyes fell to the man on the stage, voice booming over the hum of the crowd as he introduced the next act.
Flames grew on the stage, almost as if it was on fire, but they soon disappeared and in their place were what Tala could only assume were dovaa (though a few could have been hybrids, for all she knew). Their clothes were the colors of their flames — reds, oranges and yellows — and light and flowing. Each move they made sent their skirts twirling through the air and Tala found herself unable to look away from them.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 6:03 pm
As fire swallowed the stage, Tanarah’s pulse lurched upwards in her throat, and then danced, continuing to skitter hard through her veins, even as the twining tongues of red and yellow receded. The performance, as it happened, was a play: equal parts drama, romance, and comedy. As the story unfolded, despite a minimalist approach to dialogue and heavy reliance on visual props and flare — combined with music from the sidelines to enhance the tone — Tana found herself so drawn in, she forgot she was standing in the open sun in Taliuma. For the span of the hour or so that it lasted, their story became almost livable, her heart racing in the tense moments and the occasional squeal of anticipation bubbling out when things became exciting.
It was, however, the battles which had her most enraptured.
The cast had a full slew of elements, but the lead roles were peisio and firani, and at the scene’s climax, when the wronged firani stood at the stage’s center, flames billowing out like waves and coiling up, pulsing with the energy of the character’s passion, Tanarah saw, for a moment, only fire, and feeling. What must it be like, to have that much heat running raw through you? Ever at your fingertips? Ever alive and burning?
By the play’s close, she exhaled a deep breath, blinking and shaking herself, as though woken from a dream. During the walk home, she held Takhi’s hand, but couldn’t stop thinking about the magic, and the scene that had unfolded. “Do people really fight like that?” she asked at length. “That much?”
Takhi glanced down. “People fight a great lot. You’ve seen it a bit already, but…” A frown pinched her brow before she rolled her shoulders. “Well. I’m sure you’ll see your right fair share or more, in time, if things go on as they seem…”
Tana nibbled at her lip, rubbing the side of her chin with the back of her hand before opening her mouth. But then, in the end, she let it drop, spending the most of their walk back lost in thought. When they arrived home, Daddy was out front, and Tana’s lips stretched into a grin moments before she broke off into a run.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 6:17 pm
Tala yawned, eyeing Takhi and Tana’s hands as they made their way home. She was on the other side of her sister, opting that night to not hold on to anyone and instead keep her space. While the day had been fun — and it hadn’t been so bad being around Takhi — there were still things she had to decide, for herself, before she fully opened up to the woman who gave birth to her. And at such a young age, Tala was sure there was going to be plenty of time for that. There had to be.
When they arrived home, daddy was already outside waiting. As Tana took off after him, papa stepped out onto the deck and smiled. Tala gave one last look to Takhi before taking off as well and jumping into her papa’s arms. She hugged his neck as he stood, lifting her with him, and tucked close.
“Did you have fun?” Cas asked as he shifted the way he was holding Tala.
“Mhm. We got to get a treat and we saw this play. It was really beautiful.”
Cas smiled and glanced to Takhi. “They behaved themselves?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:00 pm
“They did,” Takhi answered, the corner of her lip edging up. “Very well.”
“Thank you, Miss Takhi,” Tana said, flashing a grin before darting back and giving her a hug also—which seemed, as much as anything, to startle the woman. After a pause, though, she lowered a hand, patting Tanarah’s head in some awkward semblance of and affectionate gesture. “I liked the candy, and the play…we can see another sometime?”
Takhi glanced down, meeting her gaze for a moment, before giving a nod. “I think we could manage that…”
Tanarah’s whoop concluded that, Lithian extended an invitation for dinner, and in the aftermath, they went their separate ways. That night, well after being set to bed, Tana’s mind played over musings of fire that swallowed cities — and a small, nameless thief, somewhere tucked deep in the darkened streets of Taliuma. She wondered, if she kept an eye out next time, if she might ever have an opportunity to spy them again.
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